blue jay
by Bike
Summary: Some say that the superficial beauty of the blue jay hides its inner flaws. A flock of warblers wants to help a lone jay find its wings and finally fly free (or, where Kurt never met the Warblers, transfers to Dalton, and everyone is obsessed with finding out who this mystery singer is).
1. tessitura

**_Author's Notation: To be honest, I've only recently gotten into the Glee fandom and I've thoroughly enjoyed all the stories. However, I've noticed that many stories follow, generally, the same plot, which makes it difficult to find unique fics. I was considering writing my own Glee fic (and honestly, this is like the first time I've actually written anything in over a year). I'm writing mostly for fun, which means there isn't much editing that goes into the story. I'll probably end up hitting writer's block after only a chapter or two, so any, ANY suggestions at all would be appreciated (plus, reviews and favorites are very encouraging in terms of my writing motivation). Anyways, do enjoy!  
_**

 ** _Story Summary: Some say that the superficial beauty of the blue jay hides its inner flaws. A flock of warblers wants to help a lone jay find its wings and finally fly free (or, where Kurt never met the Warblers, transfers to Dalton, and everyone is obsessed with finding out who this mystery singer is)._**

 **|INFORMATION|**

 **Pairings: Undecided  
**

 **Main Characters (In Current Chapter): Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson  
**

 **Lime/Lemon Content (In Current Chapter): None.**

 **Current Time/Era: 2010 to 2011**

 **Current Place/Residence: Dalton Academy, Westerville, Ohio, United States of America**

 **Pre-Chapter Information: Blaine Anderson, lead singer for the Warblers, hears a beautiful voice coming through the air vents, and is determined to find out who it belongs to.**

* * *

When Blaine Anderson stayed a few minutes extra after a Warblers practice, he didn't expect to hear the beautiful crooning of a delectable voice coming through the air vents.

In fact, he probably wouldn't have heard it at all if it was not for the serendipitous timing of his shortness of breath, combined with the awful rattling of the metal grate created by the air conditioning unit.

As fate would have it, Blaine was belting out the chorus to Firework (and goodness knows how obsessed he was with Katy Perry), and it was going quite well too, at least, until he hiccuped into the note, resulting in a simultaneous array of coughs, burps, and wheezes.

By the end of it, Blaine had a face so red as to rival the McKinley cheerleading uniform and an infinite thankfulness for the fact that no Warblers had stayed behind to witness the embarrassing moment.

HuuuuurdudududuclangBONG

His eye twitched.

And, as if his mood couldn't get any more terrible, the vent panel had rattled for the 13th time (and yes, he was THAT accurate because seriously, how could anyone forget such a distinctive yet disruptive sound?) that day.

Even Wes had started expressing minor traces of annoyance, and that was saying something considering the amount of noise he usually makes banging his gavel.

'Perhaps he was getting jealous,' Blaine mused.

As he crept towards the vent, determined to either tape it down or to tape it shut (decidedly ignoring the images that his mind conjured of Wes banging an air vent on the council table), he heard something that wasn't quite rattling.

Blaine's eyes widened.

* * *

Kurt Hummel was bored.

He was sitting in a small, empty classroom, his papers scattered along the desk and his thoughts scattered along the universe.

The administration had given him this room to work on catching up with his classes (even though he was still maintaining a 4.0 with the advanced curriculum).

To be fair, Dalton was a great school. The classes, the people, the food, coupled with the no-tolerance policy for bullying, made it into the ultimate gay student's fantasy.

The fact that it was an all-boys school only made it all the better.

Of course, Kurt missed his friends back in McKinley.

He missed Mike's easy-to-talk-to personality, he missed bantering with Santana, he missed Mercedes' advice sessions, he missed Puck's bad-boy attitude, he missed Brittany's uniqueness...

He even missed Rachel's overbearing diva-ness that rivaled even his own.

But, he knew Dalton was the best place for him. A place away from the bullies (read: jocks), away from the drama, and away from the hell that was McKinley.

Unfortunately, if it was one thing that Kurt couldn't stand about Dalton, it was the universal conformity that was expected of all students.

He had to wear the Dalton clothing, live in the Dalton housing with the Dalton furniture, make Dalton friends, breathe the Dalton air, and when he died, he would go to the Dalton hell.

Kidding. Kurt was entirely agnostic.

However, he did know that the school was slowly... Daltonizing him.

The only entertainment he got nowadays was listening to the Warblers practice in the classroom next to his.

And that itself, the Warblers, was an entirely different subject.

Kurt had only gotten into Dalton on a full scholarship, and that was for his vocal ability. The only problem was, part of the agreement required him to do something vocal-related while attending, which was really limited to just theater, music production, or the Warblers.

While at first, he had been prospective of a glee club, he didn't want to deal with the ignominy of being in a group of singing nerds all over again.

By the time he realized the Warblers were one of, if not the, most popular group on campus, it was too late to audition.

At first, he had moped a bit about the missed opportunity, but after a day of deep contemplation (which involved more scattered papers), he had decided to join the music production club, coincidentally named the Jays (he had wondered if every club on campus was somehow bird related).

"There's always next year," Kurt told himself, "Besides, maybe music production will be my forte."

As he tapped his pencil against the desk in frustration, he noticed a piano in the back of the room.

'Surely they wouldn't mind if...' But Kurt was already striding across the room, and promptly sat himself down on the stool chair.

As his fingers hit the keys and notes filled the room, Kurt began to sing.

As a new student, it was excusable for him to not know about all the nooks and crannies of Dalton.

That is to say, it was entirely not his fault that he didn't know the vents carried sound quite clearly throughout the air conditioning system.

Perhaps if he had noticed the air vent directly above his position, he would have thought about it for a bit, then kept on performing.

 _It was all so overwhelming_

 _She was like, "I don't know, don't tell me"_

 _He had eyes that said, "Girl, I'll save you"_

 _She had doubts, like they might not make it_

 _So they both held tight to face it_

 _There were vows, she was bound to take 'em_

 _She was full of such trepidation_

 _There in front of the whole damn nation_

But no. Instead, Kurt played and sang. And it was the beginning to something amazing.

* * *

As Blaine sat beside the air vent (having dragged a chair and positioned it directly in front), he had his eyes closed and was swaying softly to the angelic voice coming through it.

 _With you, you, you_

 _With you, you, you_

 _With you, you, you_

 _Baby, I'm in love, it's true_

'I'm in love too,' Blaine thought. Well, at least he was with the voice.

 _Ooh, shots of Remy_

 _Playing Confessions, and our bodies blendin'_

 _Ooh, I'm in love, it's true_

 _Yeah, damn I fucks with you_

Blaine raised an eyebrow at the swearing, but decided that it only added to the sinfulness of the angel singing through the vents.

 _With you, you, you_

 _With you, you, you_

 _With you, you, you_

 _Oh baby, baby, I'm in love, it's true_

As the song ended, he couldn't help but agree with the lyrics.

This was also when Blaine had realization number two: that this mystery angel simply needed to join the Warblers, which meant getting the council (and specifically, Wes and David) involved.

This would be a wonderful year.

* * *

 ***Not, in any way, attempting to stereotype or discriminate against people of the LGBTQ+ community. I have added this in only as a portrayal of Kurt's internal thinking and dry humor. If anything in my stories seems offensive to you, please don't take it personally. If you do feel strongly about something I have written, please send me a PM and I will do my best to mollify your concerns.**

 ***Song used here is With You by Mariah Carey. I know that the song hadn't been released during the airing of the second season of Glee, but I really don't want to take the time to make sure all my facts are plausibly accurate. Some facts may be shifted in order to make this fic smoother. As someone who has derived most, if not all, of his Glee knowledge from the fandom only, any fact clarification would be appreciated (PMs or reviews are fine :D).**

 ***Although it appears that Blaine is developing a slight infatuation with Kurt early on in the story, it doesn't guarantee that he will end up with Kurt in a relationship. If anything, lots of canon relationships are gonna end up skewed in many directions, and personally, I've always considered the relationship dynamics in canon Glee to be slightly off, so bear in mind that even if the same relationship progresses in this story, the dynamics behind that relationship are most likely going to be different from canon.**

 **As an additional note, I know that Chris Colfer's voice on Glee won't always fit with my song choices in this fic. While I am absolutely in love with his voice, There are times where I feel it is almost too on pitch, with not enough variation (things like runs or vibrato). Again, this is just my opinion, and I could definitely be wrong considering again, I haven't seen much of Glee beyond the fandom. In this fic, I will most likely have Kurt be able to sing in a variety of genres using more variation in his singing technique.**

 **Any constructive criticism or positive feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!**


	2. crescendo

**_Author's Notation:_** **Alright, well, this is probably the most I've ever written on FFN, like, ever. Sorry it took so long to update, I'm only able to work on side hobbies like FFN when I have a break from classes and whatnot (life, amirite?). Hope you guys enjoy where this chapter is headed. I haven't planned out anything for this story so this is completely from scratch. If you likey, please commetey :).** ** _  
_**

 ** _Story Summary: Some say that the superficial beauty of the blue jay hides its inner flaws. A flock of warblers wants to help a lone jay find its wings and finally fly free (or, where Kurt never met the Warblers, transfers to Dalton, and everyone is obsessed with finding out who this mystery singer is)._**

 **|INFORMATION|**

 **Pairings: Undecided  
**

 **Main Characters (In Current Chapter): Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, Wes Montgomery, David Thompson, Lauren Petroska** (OC), **Axel** (OC)

 **Lime/Lemon Content (In Current Chapter): None.**

 **Current Time/Era: 2010 to 2011**

 **Current Place/Residence: Dalton Academy, Westerville, Ohio, United States of America**

 **Pre-Chapter Information: Blaine Anderson drags along Wes and David to listen to this mystery singer. Meanwhile, Kurt begins to feel more confident at Dalton Academy, even making a few new friends.**

* * *

Where we left off...

 _As the song ended, he couldn't help but agree with the lyrics._

 _This was also when Blaine had realization number two: that his angel simply needed to join the Warblers, which meant getting the council (and specifically, Wes and David) involved._

 _This would be a fantastic year._

* * *

Blaine wanted—no, needed—to hear that beautiful voice again.

For the rest of the week, he started finding ridiculous reasons to stay behind after Warblers practices, ranging from 'I think I lost my shirt button' to 'My pet rock died and I need some alone time to console myself' ("Isn't that the third pet rock this week?!" "Shut it Jeff").

A few days went by, then a couple, and before he knew it, next Tuesday had already arrived—a full week after he had first heard the singing.

Blaine was beginning to lose faith—was beginning to think that the first time was just a fluke.

He sighed, leaning against the cold metal of the grate.

Suddenly, the crisp notes of a G-chord reverberated through it, causing the grate to vibrate, and hence, causing him to lose his balance with a sudden SLAM as he hit the ground.

"Owie," Blaine whimpered, rubbing his bum, which was sure to bruise the coming day.

Soon after came the sudden realization that his prayers may have been answered, and he scrambled back on to the seat, leaning his head towards the grate yet again (albeit taking care to make sure it wasn't too close).

As the first notes came through, Blaine smiled goofily.

 _Isn't anyone tryin' to find me?_

 _Won't somebody come take me home_

 _It's a damn cold night_

 _Trying to figure out this life_

 _Won't you take me by the hand_

 _Take me somewhere new_

 _I don't know who you are_

 _But I, I'm with you_

* * *

At first, Kurt hated Tuesdays.

Tuesday, along with being as difficult as every other weekday (with exam cramming, late night studying, boring lectures, etc.), was also the day where he was forced to spend two hours 'catching up on other work'.

The teachers called it 'Administrative Tutorial'.

Kurt called it 'Solitary Confinement'.

Of course, he could just up and leave anytime he wanted, although it probably wouldn't go over very well with the administration.

Truth be told, it wasn't so much the boringness of Tuesday that Kurt hated as it was how much the boringness reminded him of his loneliness.

He had nothing to invest in, no one to socialize with, and nothing to accomplish.

At least in McKinley, he could claim to be something–whether that be the unpopular 'Gleek', the male cheerleader, the resident fag (the Jocks especially loved this title)–no matter what he was titled, at least he knew who Kurt Hummel was.

Here? He was just another kid trying to pass classes.

Here, he was ordinary. And he didn't like it.

"–and remember to complete chapter eleven on cell-to-cell communication–"

As Kurt's thoughts wandered, he failed to register the ringing of the bell.

"–urt? Kurt?" He felt a tapping on his shoulder.

Looking up, he met the face of his biology teacher, Ms. Asufiju ("Call me Ms. Asu!").

"Sorry?" He replied, a bit groggily.

"Class ended a few minutes ago," she replied, looking a bit concerned.

Looking around, Kurt was shocked to see that the classroom was completed vacant, everyone having already left.

"Are you sure everything is okay?" she continued, "I could make you some hot tea if you're feeling a bit down."

Kurt smiled a bit tiredly, but happily at the concern he was being showed. He knew that if this had been McKinley, he probably would have been given a rude eviction from the building, and possibly a referral with that.

"No, but thank you," he replied, "I've just been distracted by some thoughts lately."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow and took the seat beside him. "I've heard that talking about it helps sometimes."

Kurt hesitated a bit, but upon realizing that this was his last class of the day and that he had nothing better to do, he started talking.

"It's just, I've been here for like, two months now but I can't help but feel a bit bored and lonely sometimes–I mean, the school is great and I feel like I'm learning a lot more in these classes–"

"–But after class is over you don't have anything interesting to do?"

"Exactly!" Kurt nodded his head erratically, ecstatic that someone understood what he was going through.

"Hmm... have you considered joining a club yet?" She asked.

"Well," he paused, "I was actually hoping to join the Warblers, originally..."

"The Warblers are the, the choir group?"

He smiled wryly, "I guess you could say that."

"Well, why don't you join them then?" She questioned, a bit puzzled.

"Their auditions deadline ended before I was able to try out," his lips thinned into a straight line. "Since I still wanted to do something music related, I thought about joining the Jays—that's the production club," he added when Ms. Asu looked confused.

He continued, "I guess now I'm just worried that like, I won't even end up enjoying it and I'll end up an antisocial loner forever."

He sunk in his seat and added self-deprecatingly, "Maybe that's what I'll end up as anyways."

Ms. Asu placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder, causing him to look back up.

"Kurt," she began, "I've been a teacher here for a long time, and trust me when I say that I have heard those same worries and troubles from students going through things similar to you."

She stood up, walking around the desks until she was directly in front of Kurt, then continued, "Sometimes, it's a student who's transferred districts. Sometimes, it's a student from a foreign country. I'll tell you exactly what I told them: making friends is a gradual process. Even if it takes a week or a year, those friendships you make will only solidly with time. Those friendships will matter the most."

She grabbed a flier from her desk drawer and handed it to him.

"What's this?" Kurt asked, holding the paper.

"Have you heard of Clubs' Day?"

He shook his head.

"It's basically a fair, or an open house, where most, if not all, of the clubs will advertise themselves to attract students. I think, if the clubs you're currently interested in fail to impress, there are dozens of options still available."

She looked at the clock then, and exclaimed, "Oh dear, has it been half an hour already?" She then looked at Kurt apologetically, "I have a teacher meeting to attend in a few minutes from now so I won't be able to continue our chat. I hope that I've at least mollified some concerns?"

Kurt beamed back at her, feeling much better. "Definitely, this has probably been the best part of my day."

She beamed back as he walked towards the door.

"Oh, and one more thing Kurt?"

He stopped and turned, waiting.

"Always remember that at Dalton, you should never feel alone. Even if you have trouble making friendships, know that everyone is here to help. Trust in that, if nothing else."

Kurt smiled at her. "Thanks Ms. Asu, I won't forget it."

"Anytime," she called back, walking into the teacher lounge.

As Kurt exited the classroom, he felt much more comfortable with being there.

Every little thing was gonna be okay.

* * *

Blaine was sitting on his bed, furiously exchanging messages with Wes.

Blaine: Wes! im bein srs theres a voice coming thru the vents

Wes: Blaine I'm not falling for it

Blaine: But whoevr it is can sing! lik really gud, i think they would b gr8 addition to warblers

Wes: Blaine everyone has already heard the 'mysterious girl in the vents' story I'm not that dumb

Blaine: but its not a prank this is 4 real

Wes: Okay now this is just getting ridiculous you're not making any progress convincing me

Blaine: i swear on my bowtie collection!

Wes: ...

Blaine: cmon just stay a few mins after prac and u will hear it

Wes: Alright fine. I'll stay after with you, but only for a LITTLE.

Blaine: YAY!

Wes: And for God's sake, stop texting with those ridiculous abbreviations!

Blaine: lolkay

Blaine flicked the silencer on his phone and placed it face down on his nightstand, determined not to listen to Wes rant about his keyboard etiquette.

Lying still on the bed, he appeared dead to the world, but in actuality, Blaine was deeply contemplating who the mysterious singer could be.

He knew it wasn't one of the Warblers—none of their voices went that high and the tone was completely off.

He also didn't think it was anyone he already knew as their voices didn't match what he imagined the mysterious singer's to be.

'Well that narrows it down to about 90 percent of the school,' he thought, blithely.

Blaine also wondered why the mysterious singer had not tried out for the Warblers. He knew that he hadn't as a voice like that was most certainly recognizable.

A voice like that would have no trouble getting into the Warblers, and who wouldn't want to join the most popular group on campus?

As Blaine continued to be muddled by his thoughts, he slowly slipped into a fitful slumber.

* * *

Kurt was excited.

Today was Wednesday, which meant it was his first Jays meeting.

Naturally, Kurt was also apprehensive. After all, he wasn't used to socializing and he most certainly didn't know anyone in the club. Currently, he was rushing around his room, carelessly tossing clothes around as he searched for an acceptable outfit.

'Too blue'

'Too gaudy'

'Too bright'

Each critique was accompanied by another toss across the room, and Kurt was suddenly overcome by appreciation for his lack of a roommate. He knew that by the time he was done, the room would look to be a hurricane disaster zone.

It was the same reason why he had flat out refused to share a room with Finn. (Of course, there were other reasons, more much complex reasons, but Kurt did not like reminiscing on those)

He considered just wearing the Dalton uniform, but it was unbearably hot in above 80 degree weather and undoubtedly unfashionable.

Dalton only required the uniform be worn during class hours, so Kurt took any chance he could to change out of it.

After another quarter hour of reckless changing, Kurt decided on a pair of dark jeans and a purple shirt that hugged his torso quite nicely.

Looking at the clock, his eyes widened at the realization that he only had 10 minutes to get to the meeting room.

Throwing on a Marc Jacobs blazer and a pair white converse, he rushed through the door, ran around the corner, and promptly crashed into someone and sent them both tumbling onto the floor.

"Oh my Gaga, I'm so sorry!" he yelped, quickly disentangling his limbs from around the other person. Looking down at his potential offendee, Kurt took in the neatly gelled hair, smooth jawline, and dazed amber eyes.

'Not bad,' he thought, although the height could use some work. He smiled, inwardly. The shortness made him look pretty adorable.

Quickly pulling the other boy up and, upon realizing that there were no grievous bodily injuries, turned and continued jogging down the hallway, tossing a quick "Again, sorry!" across his shoulder.

Arriving at the classroom a few minutes early, Kurt took a seat close to the window and waited patiently for the club officers to begin their presentation.

* * *

Blaine had been having an interesting day. And by interesting, he meant utterly terrible. It had all started in the dining hall, with Nick and Jeff.

As usual.

Actually, that was a lie. It had started a couple minutes after he had woken up when he realized that his alarm clock had oddly disconnected in the middle of the night and that it was already halfway into second period.

Calling in sick, he had attempted to take a shower but instead ended up stubbing his toe on the sink cabinet when he frantically attempted to escape the freezing cold water.

After an incredibly frustrating morning routine that had only lasted for twenty minutes, in reality, Blaine decided to venture down for brunch, only to realize that the short 'shower' had washed out his hair gel and he had yet to put on more.

That led to the painful discovery that he had run out of hair gel, which led to his panic-induced substitution of soap water in hopes that it would dry and crust his hair.

Well, it did dry and crust his hair, which streaked it with a white substance that could very well be mistaken for, well, something else.

After dunking his head into the sink of freezing water, tossing on his uniform and making it down the stairs and the hallway towards the dining area, Blaine was treated to a pancake-in-the-face, courtesy of Jeff and Nick.

After spending another quarter hour in the bathroom washing off the syrup ("Why are there suds forming in your hair?" "I don't wanna talk about it"), learning that he had missed an exam for history, being surprised by a pop quiz in French, and assigned a load of homework for literature, Blaine was unsurprisingly in a lousy mood.

So when someone crashed into him as he was returning to his room, Blaine was ready to give the outburst of his life, until he realized a few things.

One, the offender was quite good looking, with pale, flawless skin, ocean green-blue eyes, and a defined physique that was clearly shown off by his tight shirt and jeans.

And two, the offender was straddling him on the floor and said defined physique was pressing into him.

Blaine, being relatively inexperienced when it came to matters the tiniest bit related to sexuality, froze up.

"Oh my Gaga, I'm so sorry!"

'Gaga? As in Lady Gaga? Why is he using her as a pseudo-swear?', the rational part of his brain questioned.

The rest was collectively swooning over the angelic voice coming from his not-so-much-anymore-offender.

Blaine felt a strong hand reach down and pull him back upright before a whoosh of air signaled the other boy continuing on to wherever he was running towards.

He didn't even register the "Again, sorry!" coming from down the hallway as he continued to stand there for a few seconds.

Blaine retired to his room, calling it a day.

* * *

"Psst, hey."

Kurt felt an incessant tapping on his shoulder. In fact, he's felt it for the past few minutes, assuming that whoever was bugging him would eventually desist.

"Psssssssssssssst. Heeeeeeeeeeeey."

Evidently not.

Kurt turned around, raising his right eyebrow and staring back flatly, unamused. "Is there a reason you've been tapping me for the past I-don't-even-know-how-long?"

'The Tapper', as Kurt had dubbed, turned out to be a girl, with long, dark hair and gray eyes that were now muddled in confusion.

"Well, to get your attention of course!" she chirped.

He just barely prevented an eye twitch.

He continued, clarifying himself with a certain patience only developed from hanging out with the New Directioners and their eccentricities, "And what did you need my attention for?"

She paused at this, going back to the muddled, confused look.

"I forgot!" she chirped, again.

This time, Kurt couldn't entirely prevent the twitch.

"Oh yeah, I was gonna ask you for your name!" She continued, smiling happily.

Kurt internally winced a bit at that smile. She was so similar to Brittany that it almost hurt. Their personality resemblance was uncanny.

He returned her smile, albeit less brightly. "Kurt Hummel."

She frowned. "What?"

"It's my name," Kurt clarified.

"Ohhh!" she exclaimed. "I'm Lauren, Lauren Petroska."

They shared another quick smile before the club members were called to attention.

"Hey everyone! Thank you all for showing up to today's club meeting! Since we are only on week two, it isn't surprising to see all the new faces, but it sure is lovely! For those of you that don't know yet, I'm Joshua Wu, club president of The Jays," at this moment, a girl walked up to the podium with him, "and I am Sonia Sorensen, Vice President of The Jays."

They stood there as some claps and wild cheering came (mostly from the front of the audience).

At this point, the girl–Sonia–took over, "Again, as this is only the start of the semester, for the first couple of meetings we will be primarily working on teamwork and cooperation, before establishing some background in music production. In fact, as today is a relatively short meeting, please take this time now to get into groups of three to four. Pick your groups wisely, for these groups will be your collaboration team for the unforeseeable future."

There was a mad scrambling as students attempted to bundle with their friends, some unfortunate groups of five forced to leave out a loner while other groups of three desperately recruited more favorable looking people.

Kurt and Lauren turned to each other. They blinked.

Kurt spoke first, "You wanna buddy up?"

She cocked her head to the side, "Buddy up, like, when we go to the restrooms?"

He smiled, "exactly like that."

"Okay!" she chirped.

He looked around the room. It didn't seem like he knew anyone else, but that was unsurprising given how few friends he had at Dalton.

Actually, scratch that. He had no friends at Dalton.

Upon looking to his left though, he remembered that he may have made his first friend that day.

"U-um, excuse me?"

Kurt turned back around, looking at a boy around his height standing a bit timidly.

He continued, "Would you have– do you have room for one more?"

Kurt stared back, just taking in the brown hair and matching chocolate eyes, but it seems that he had been silent for too long as the guy seemed to deflate a bit and curled in on himself.

"Oh uh, s-sorry I'll find another group." he started turning around when Kurt snapped out of it.

"Oh! Oh yeah, definitely, please, feel free to join us if you want."

He turned back, hopefully, and asked cautiously, "R-really?"

"Really." Kurt shot him a beaming smile, and the boy blushed a bit, before straightening up.

That was when Kurt realized he actually had to look up a bit to meet his eyes, and that the boy was taller than he had first assumed.

He smiled back shyly and ducked his head. "I'm Axel, but I go by Ax with my friends."

His eyes widened, and he hurriedly continued, "But, I'm fine with either of those, 'cause you know, I don't want to assume that we're friends or anything."

Then, his face took on a horrified expression and he backtracked, "N-not that I wouldn't want to be friends with you, I just meant–"

Here, Kurt cut him off with a quick laugh, "Don't worry I got your meaning, and I'm all up for being friends if you want to."

His face settled back into a happy expression tinged with slight apprehension. "R-really? You'd be fine with that?"

"Of course, Ax."

Scrap that. He may be tall physically but he was akin to an overgrown puppy.

Kurt couldn't possibly turn him down, reason one being that it would essentially be kicking a puppy and reason two being that he was all too used to feeling left out.

Lauren piped up next to him, "Are you coming to the bathroom with us?"

Ax reared back a bit, looking incredibly confused before continuing hesitantly, "...yeah?"

Kurt curled his hand around his arm (and if he flinched a little it was left unmentioned) and dragged him into the seat next to Lauren.

"So, it looks like it's just us three lonely ducks here."

That seemed to break the ice quickly as the tension finally left the atmosphere.

"Why don't we started with some introductions?" Kurt added, "Here, I'll start us off. I'm Kurt Hummel, uh, I'm a junior this year. I like fashion, singing, and boys–not necessarily in that order. I've just transferred over to Dalton and I'm hoping to make new memories and new friends."

He turned towards Lauren, who gracefully went next.

"Hi! I'm Lauren."

They waited expectantly for a couple seconds before realizing that she had apparently finished her introduction.

"Um, Lauren?"

"Um, Kurt?" She replied, wryly.

"Could you maybe say some more stuff about yourself? Like, likes and dislikes, hobbies, that kinda stuff?"

She paused. "But, we're friends right?"

Kurt replied, a bit muddled. "Of course we are."

"Then you already know everything, 'cause friends know everything about each other, that's why they're friends!"

Before Kurt could comment on her logic, she turned towards Ax (who looked as though he may be slightly regretting his choice of group-mates) and redirected the spotlight. "How about you? Do you have any," and at here she paused and gave a little eyebrow wag, " specialties?"

Ax blanched a little, "N-no, no specialties really, I'm a pretty normal person I'd like to think."

Kurt interjected before Ax became completely freaked out, "Alright, no specialties, got it. How about you just tell us some of your, ah, normalcies?"

Ax pursed his lips. "Well, I'm Axle. Um, I'm a sophomore. I'm interested in producing music when I grow up but my parents want me to be a software engineer. I hope we can all become good friends."

They were interrupted by the club president, "ALRIGHT! This marks the end of our second mini-meeting. If you haven't done so already, please trade your contact information so you can stay connected through group projects. You are free to go, thank you for coming!"

As the crowd slowly shuffled towards the door at the back of the room, Kurt added his number to both of their phones.

"Call me when you can and I'll add your numbers, alright?" He asked.

Ax gave him a smile, "Y-yeah, definitely!"

Lauren saluted him.

As they walked towards the door, talking and laughing, Kurt believed that he wouldn't be alone this year after all.

* * *

Before Blaine knew it, next Tuesday had already arrived. He had been anticipating and dreading this day. Today was make or break, and he was hoping desperately that it would be a make.

His babies were at stake, after all.

Even now, as Blaine ran up the stairway into the hallway where Wes and David were studying, he crossed his fingers so tight that his nails were turning yellow.

'411, 413, 415, here it is! Finally, 417,' he thought.

As Blaine approached the door, he couldn't help but hear the rather loud conversation coming through it.

"Is this how you want it, babe?"

"Ooooh yes, that's a good spot..."

"What about... _here_?"

As the lewdness of the comments increased, so did the shade of fuchsia taking over Blaine's face.

Before he could run away in mortification, there was one last grunt and then nothing but quiet breathing. Blaine reached out and tentatively knocked on the door, hoping that his confidence would last.

All sound seemed to freeze for a second before there was a mad shuffling heard, along with some frantic whispering and loud bangs (most likely into furniture). After a minute or so, David opened the door and stepped outside, Wes trailing behind.

Blaine took in the rumpled clothing, messy hair, and flushed faces, and couldn't help but ask, "So... you guys enjoying yourselves in there?"

David just grinned unashamedly while Wes blushed.

"We were, uh, just practicing for the French exam, something you wouldn't know about considering your grade," Wes snarked, clearly embarrassed.

Blaine just grinned harder. "Oh, really? I might be terrible at French but I don't recall that many _ahhh_ s and _ohhh_ s and _Yes pleases_ –"

"–OKAY, lets digress," Wes interrupted. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"We're going to listen to the singer through the vents, remember?"

Wes looked taken aback. "You mean you were actually serious about that?"

"Of course I was! I even swore on my babies, that's how serious I was! And you agreed, remember?" Blaine waved his arms in the air.

"I just said that to make you shut up, I thought–"

"–Okay hold up, what's this about a singer in the vents?" David cut into the conversation.

Wes turned to look at Blaine, David mimicking his motion a second after.

"Well, I was staying after one day after a Warblers practice right? 'Cause I was practicing a song and I was almost done, but then I was standing close to the air vents and I heard this beautiful voice coming through it, and I really think the singer would be a great Warblers addition."

David blinked. "In that case, let's go check out your mystery singer."

Wes turned to David, almost scandalized, "What? Do you even know how ridiculous a vent singer is? And we don't even know who it is, how–"

David cut him off with a quick peck on the lips. "It's just for a couple minutes right? It can't hurt, and when we get back I'll have you singing into the vents." At this, he gave a wink.

Blaine wrinkled his nose.

David turned back towards Blaine while Wes was still dazed, "Well, lead the way."

Blaine had his head towards the vents.

"Hear anything yet?"

"SHHH!"

"Alright chill I was just as–"

"SHHHHHH!"

They waited a few more minutes before Wes sighed, "I knew this wasn't a good id–"

 _Something has changed within' me_

 _Something is not the same_

 _I'm through with playing by_

 _The rules of someone else's game_

 _Too late for second guessing_

 _Too late to go back to sleep_

 _It's time to trust my instincts_

 _Close my eyes and leap_

Wes' face had frozen in shock, his jaw dropping unattractively but completely understandably.

 _It's time to try defying gravity_

 _I think I'll try defying gravity_

 _Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity_

 _And you won't bring me down_

Blaine asked, "So now do you belie–"

"SHHH!"

 _I'm through accepting limits_

 _'Cause someone says they're so_

 _Some things I cannot change_

 _But till I try, I'll never know_

 _Too long I've been afraid of_

 _Losing love I guess I've lost_

 _Well if that's love, it comes at_

 _At much too high a cost_

Blaine turned towards David, "five bucks says Wes will obsess over this until he figures out who's singing."

David smirked. "Ten bucks says he'll stop at nothing until whoever's singing becomes a warbler."

They just looked at each other for a second, and then laughed uproariously. Blaine replied jokingly, "we both know those are suckers' bets."

"SHHHHHH!"

They quieted down, still chuckling a bit.

 _I'd sooner buy defying gravity_

 _Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity_

 _I think I'll try defying gravity_

 _And you won't bring me down_

 _I'd sooner buy defying gravity_

 _Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity_

 _I think I'll try defying gravity_

 _And you won't bring me down_

 _Bring me down_

 _Ohhh_

At the final note, even Blaine and David had dropped their jaws at both the duration and the note.

There was a moment of silence after as all three warblers waited for more, but it appeared that their mystery singer would only be singing once that day. Either way, once appeared to be more than enough.

Wes turned towards Blaine slowly. "Why... did you not tell me that the singer was a countertenor?" he asked, seemingly calmly.

Blaine replied, "Well you didn't seem to believe that there was a singer at all so–"

Wes jumped out of his seat and turned to David, waving frantically, "DAVID! There's a countertenor in this school and we haven't noticed! How?!"

David looked back uneasily (and Blaine almost felt a bit sorry for him) and replied, "Well–"

"Actually don't answer that! C'mon, we need to start the recruitment drives! With a voice like that we'd be undefeatable!"

Finishing his commentary, Wes grabbed David by the arm and dragged him out of the room, most likely to have an emergency council meeting of some sort. Blaine wouldn't know, he was invited as the lead soloist but he never bothered showing up. Although for the first time, he might.

As Blaine walked out of the rehearsal hall, he couldn't decide whether or not informing Wes was really such a good idea.

At least it wouldn't be a boring year.

* * *

 ***Songs used are I'm With You by Avril Lavigne and Defying Gravity (but we already knew that, I hope).**

 ***Just a forewarning, again, I'm reiterating that the songs I'm going to be having Kurt sing aren't necessarily canon enough to be considered very realistic. I get that he likes musicals more, and I'll be attempting to put those in this story, but it's not necessarily where I want this story headed.**

 **Another note - It's been a while since I've started writing and considering this is a fandom I have not invested much time in, the story may be a bit rough around the edges until I can figure out what direction to take this.**

 **As always, please do subscribe and leave a like if you enjoyed it. Oh, it's not a video? Reviews, favorites, and follows are all extremely encouraging. I feel that this story has potential (also it's literally the only story I have ever written a second chapter for, so there's that :). Enjoy!**


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